Currently I'm living on the East Coast, having grown up with BBC coverage and enjoyed most of 2009 back on the channel, since then I've grown exasperated at how SPEED presents Formula 1.

Many previous posts mentioned adverts which are a USA staple of TV, but just destroy a live event such as a Grand Prix. In a 85 minute race, expect to see at least 25 mins of adverts and that can be as many as 15-20 laps.

The fact that they're obligated to present from a studio says it all, they often refer to the live timing, but still don't utilize it to their advantage to correctly interpret the race - last years Abu Dhabi was a case in point as they completely forgot about Kubica for 30 laps and were assuring the viewers that Alonso only needed to pass Petrov to be champion.

At the start of this year, we were told how wonderful it was that they were now showing qualifying live instead of with a 10minute delay. Gee thanks! Forgive me for not showing the enthusiasm that you think I should for you doing something so simple!

Delayed races on FOX annoy me intensely as well, what with all the adverts, you need live timing to know what's going on, of course you can't have it when it's on delay......

Have to say I agree that Bob Varsha is decent, but I can't see why David Hobbs is there he provides little relevant comment or opinion preferring to make "comedy" value. Steve Matchett could be better, but I think 3 in the box doesn't leave him enough opportunity. I do think overall it's about as good as it's going to get unless someone instructs SPEED that F1 is more investment worthy than tractor pulling/car auctions or Pimp my Monster Truck!

I agree about preferring BBC broadcasts, but thats crazy. I'd much rather see the F1 race on my 42" plasma screen in HD and with surround sound than watch some crappy stream on my computer in my office.

But yea, the SpeedTV team have quite a few issues. My biggest is that the commentators are a bunch of old fuddy duddies. Bob Varsha is supposed to be the main host, but he's incredibly corny and despite all his experience watching the sport, I swear he's less knowledgeable and insightful than I am. Steve Matchett is the only guy I like, cuz he's an incredibly astute observer in terms of whats going on with the cars themselves. But still, its been like 50 years since he was a part of the sport. Hobbs is a further 180 years away from F1 and he's supposed to somehow provide the 'driver perspective' of the group? Will Buxton can be alright, but he feels terribly out of place with these 3 other grandpas doing the main commentating.

I definitely think Brundle and Coulthard make an ideal commentating team. Brundle is probably the best F1 commentator of this generation and Coulthard has modern F1 experience. They aren't ultra-corny like the SpeedTV team, either. Whenever I look for a version of a race to burn to a DVD, I always go for a BBC version.

Have to say I agree that Bob Varsha is decent, but I can't see why David Hobbs is there he provides little relevant comment or opinion preferring to make "comedy" value. Steve Matchett could be better, but I think 3 in the box doesn't leave him enough opportunity. I do think overall it's about as good as it's going to get unless someone instructs SPEED that F1 is more investment worthy than tractor pulling/car auctions or Pimp my Monster Truck!

The fact is that the lifestyle shows are a much, much larger money maker in the US market than an F1 broadcast. When Pinks was in first run there was an audience of about 3 million over the course of the week. F1 is lucky to get a few hundred million.

The number of commercials with Speed's F1 coverage is pretty atrocious and definitely seems to be a lot more than just about any other sports channel or program. The number of commercials during qualifying surely sets some sort of records.

The commentators need some work, they need to add another racing expert that is more on the ball then Hobbs. I like Hobbs, but you can tell he is getting a little old and is a bit slow to pick things up. Varsha is OK as the non-expert, miss not having him around. I generally like Will Buxton, but sometimes think he only asks the easy questions for the drivers, perhaps to keep them happy and continue to let him interview them on the grid?

I pretty much always end up watching the BBC coverage, but I am such a fan I will often go back and watch it on Speed later in the week to see their take on things. The BBC coverage is really great, I think Brundle and DC do a good job of keeping up to date on things and they usually know exactly what the coded talk is on the radio, stuff that even I could guess is easily missed by the Speed Guys and they also pick up strategy choices, etc... much sooner.

If you have a computer that you can connect to your TV you can pretty much watch the BBC coverage on a high quality stream with a bit of work and a little bit of money, I pay about $7/mo... worth every penny to not have the commercials!

It is not an unreasonable approach to tailor commentary with an toward less savvy, new-to-F1 viewers. Besides which, the Speed crew, particularly Matchett, delves into a rule explanation in order to give some event context. It's done rather deftly, in my opinion: being informative for newcomer without making F1 veterans feel like they are being spoken down to.

It's not unreasonable, it's just not what I prefer. This is why I like the BBC coverage a little more. The commercial situation is a no-brainer though, so I don't take that into account.

I like both broadcasts for different reasons so for me a combination of the two would be ideal.

I agree it seems Hobbes has been slowing down but if the BBC had some sort of cranky old curmudgeon they could throw in the mix for some colourful (spelled all British-like!) commentary. It might spice up things when, let's face it, the racing action isn't really that full of action.

It is a bit ridiculous that Speed can not or will not send their broadcast team to the actual race.

The BBC has a thread, and after today's Turkish Grand Prix I felt compelled to start a SPEED TV thread for us few US fans. While I have typically enjoyed Speed's Formula 1 coverage, some things are getting better while others aren't.

For one, there were way too many commercials. I believe there was one on lap 40-42, and then another one on lap 46. As luck would have it we also missed Webber's pass on Alonso. I read on another forum that FOM restricts picture-in-picture commercials similar to Indy Car, where you still see the race in the corner. Does anyone know about this?

Aside from that, the new graphics are atrocious. Here in the first year of high-definition F1, we have graphics so large that they cover the action on screen. During the parade lap, SPEED displays driver pictures and names showing their starting position. OK, but do these graphics have to take up nearly half of an HD picture? While there is not much action on a parade lap, I'd still like to be able to see the cars.

Of course, the fact that we only have Will Buxton on location is also problematic. It would be nice to have more on-location content. Then again, that probably just reflects F1's popularity in the US. I envy fans overseas who talk of watching F1 in a pub. The day I get to watch a GP during the evening at a pub while enjoying some hops is the day I die happy. I don't even have any friends remotely interested in F1. People give me blank stares when I speak of it.

As for the commentators, I don't really want to complain. Unless we know of people who would certainly be better, I am fine with Bob, David, and Steve.

...and if Will Buxton keeps saying 'unlucky' every time a driver retires I might just mute the TV.

Thoughts?

The coverage by RDS in Quebec have that sort of ad break. The race is still displayed in the corner of the screen.

Just out of curiosity - Do guys in the US who have watched BBC find the Scottish accent of DC and to a lesser extent the English accent of MB to be a problem at all.

95% of people have "thin" accents in the speaking of English - DC and MB are very comprehensible.

Stranegly it is the most traditional English first language countries like England and the United States that are likely to contain the arguably least comprehensible accents IMO. Whilst the other English as first language countries like Singapore will be home to flawless pronunciation without exception. Now... put a chav (bu-oh for butter - now that's a thick accent!) and a "redneck" (piiick up truc) in bar and have them assemble some IKEA furniture co-operatively sharing one Allan key...

95% of people have "thin" accents in the speaking of English - DC and MB are very comprehensible.

Stranegly it is the most traditional English first language countries like England and the United States that are likely to contain the arguably least comprehensible accents IMO. Whilst the other English as first language countries like Singapore will be home to flawless pronunciation without exception. Now... put a chav (bu-oh for butter - now that's a thick accent!) and a "redneck" (piiick up truc) in bar and have them assemble some IKEA furniture co-operatively sharing one Allan key...

lol.

I do love when one of my countrymen will criticize word usage/tense/pronunciation of a non-native English speaker. I like to ask, "Do you speak a second language as well as he speaks your first and only language?"

It was difficult when I first arrived in the UK to understand folks who hadn't attended Oxford.

A sweet older lady heard me speak to someone at the local Waitrose and came to me and told me my accent was, "simply lovely" and was I from Texas? Being from the mid-west and from a city we are generally considered to have a neutral accent or none at all but we must all sound like Texans to you foreigners.

I seriously doubt anyone would have trouble understanding BBC commentators or Cheryl Cole.

I like both broadcasts for different reasons so for me a combination of the two would be ideal.

I agree it seems Hobbes has been slowing down but if the BBC had some sort of cranky old curmudgeon they could throw in the mix for some colourful (spelled all British-like! spelt correctly) commentary. It might spice up things when, let's face it, the racing action isn't really that full of action.

It is a bit ridiculous that Speed can not or will not send their broadcast team to the actual race.

I was reading this thread wondering if I was going to be the only unpopular one. Sounds like Seanspeed and I share some opinions.

I'll be honest, I don't even know the SPEED team's names. I know there is Bob Varsha and I am shocked that he's considered the best man for the job in all of the US. He's kind of like an overeager puppy and I feel like he focuses on the wrong things, mispronounces names, and just overall is not helpful to the program. He just rubs me the wrong way.

Then there is an old guy with a British accent. He's OK but it's really, really annoying when he starts cheering on the drivers. He'll bust out with "GO ON BOY! GET IT!" or something similar and I'm just put off that he's like, cheering on the competitors during a race.

I don't even notice the third guy.

Will Buxton is a bit of a tool but he's the least of their problems.

I agree with the sentiment that an educated fan who is following on the internet can out-analyze the team. I also agree with the sentiment that they do a pretty good job for not being at the track.

Meanwhile, in the times when I'm privileged to watch the BBC stream, or can't catch the race live and download it, I just love Brundle's dry humor and insightful analysis. That dude is cool as ice, smart, and has a way with words.

I used to hate it when Steve Matchett would yell, "Go on boy, PUSH, PUSH, PUSH". Made me want to throw my remote at the TV. He hasn't said it for a while so I think the production team must have told him how annoying it was.

That being said, there's nothing worse than having Bob Jenkins call an F1 race (or Indy car race for that matter).

I used to watch Speed sometimes (I'd switch between them, TSN and RDS, depending on who was off in commercial or who was showing the race when I felt like watching it) but live F1 is blacked out on Speed in my region these days. I still follow GP2 via them, though. The commercials are the killer - coverage is so disjointed even with the delayed GP2 broadcast. I end up feeling like I'm missing half the action.

Since last season, I've become quite addicted to catching BBC's extended F1 coverage and, IMO, better commentary - the lack of commercials rather seals it for me, even if TSN [basically a truncated version of BBC's F1 race day broadcast with ad breaks] and RDS do the side-by-side thing - and can't really see myself going back to Speed now, even if it did become available again.

Spelt - A wonderfully nutritious and ancient grain with a deep nutlike flavor.(flavour)

Spelt, as a past participle, is one of those words that, as far as I know, is only used in the UK.Some of the others that never made it to "American English" (whilst, amongst etc.) are still used in English speaking Commonwealth countries.

I'm OK with SPEED's coverage, but I have to be since it's the only thing I get here in Indy. I'd rather not have all those commercials of course, but if it pays the bills and keeps them on the air...

I would like to see SPEED calm down on the graphics. I'm sure there's a way to gracefully show data while leaving as much actual picture as possible.

From my point of view at least, both the number of commercials and the graphics are something that happens on every American channel. No matter what I am watching it is crammed with commercials and stupid annoying large graphics, whether it be the channels logo, or promotions for some other show.

It's a phenominal amount of ads, never seen anything like it other than the AMC channel which has the NASTY habit of running very few ads for the first hour of a movie then ABSOLUTELY BOMFUCKINGBARDING you with ads in the last hour.

This drives me crazy, you settle down to watch a movie, get through an hour with no commercials and are just beginning to think "Great, a movie that is not 3 hours long due to all the commercials" when BAM!! Here they come every 10 minutes.

On another note, I completely forgot to mention races that are tape delayed by FOX. Throughout the season, 4 races are typically aired on FOX rather that SPEED, but using the SPEED crew.

I hate the races that are shown on Fox, not only because of the delay. But I have also noticed that when the races are shown on Fox, the commentary is dumbed down even more so than usual. I assume to cater to the (hopeful) wider audience that Fox would pull in.

The Speed coverage is overall good though, the commercials are annoying, but pretty much a way of life for anything shown in the US. I typically DVR the race and skip through them anyway.

I like the commentary crew but I hate it when they throw in a video montage coming back from a commercial break. The one that stands out is when Kovi crashed in Spain in 08 and coming back from one of the breaks they did the montage with the Finger 11 song Paralyzer.

Classy.

Enough time is taken up by commercials I don't need yet more taken up by other pointless things.

The last F1 race I watched on Fox was a while ago but it was very annoying that the coverage started as the cars were pulling off for the formation lap. And you are correct the commentary was dumbed down with a lot of explanations that made you feel like you were in kindergarten.

As a side note. Watching American TV shows here in the UK is amusing. Most US shows are made with pauses in the action/dialogue for commercials. When it gets to British TV, which has different pauses for commercials, you get these seemingly abrupt commercial breaks during important dialogue or action.

I like the commentary crew but I hate it when they throw in a video montage coming back from a commercial break. The one that stands out is when Kovi crashed in Spain in 08 and coming back from one of the breaks they did the montage with the Finger 11 song Paralyzer.

Unfortunately, this necessitates cutting out of the action during qualifying sessions some times.

If Turkey was any indication qualifying is not going to be all that interesting anyway this year.

Q1 - HRT, Virgin, Lotus > Consistently the slowest teams, so 99.9% of the time they will not make the first cut.Q2 - Force India, Sauber, Williams, Toro Rosso > A little more interesting with the possibility that the Force India cars might beat the Mercedes/Renaults into Q3Q3 - Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes > Red Bull superiority over 1 lap leaves it pretty certain the Vettel will put it on pole, with everyone else now holding back as many sets of tires as possible so not really bothering with more than a single run.

Unfortunately, this necessitates cutting out of the action during qualifying sessions some times.

Dan Shutte has posted about that in his Twitter feed. They pretty much have to take 2 minutes in Q1 and 90 seconds in Q2 for commercials so they can run the pole shootout uninterrupted. They've also moved Buxton's qualifying package to the end to eliminate the time-slip. I think they've done a good job with the compromises involved.

It will be interesting to see how the coverage changes and evolves as the network builds up to the USGP's return next year. I have no doubt there will be more and better in some ways, but that the things some established fans find annoying may also start showing up more and more.

Well that's a quandary then. Do I believe some random guy on the Internet who hasn't seen the contract or one of the most respected motor sports journos in the US that has intimate details of the deal? There is no way Speed is paying anywhere close to what some of the others are for the rights and that may well be one of differences in the details.

I hate the races that are shown on Fox, not only because of the delay. But I have also noticed that when the races are shown on Fox, the commentary is dumbed down even more so than usual. I assume to cater to the (hopeful) wider audience that Fox would pull in.

Yep, that's what happens. The Fox numbers are in the 1.5 to 2 million and the Speed numbers are only a few hundred thousand. When Fox first did it there was no grid walk and no podium or presser. Many complained and Speed hosted the traditional grid walk/pre race then Fox did a compressed, edited race with some podium and the presser covered on the Sunday Speed Report motor sport news program on Speed.

It is a bit ridiculous that Speed can not or will not send their broadcast team to the actual race.

It about the money. They can fly the guys into Charlotte on Thurs night, get them back out Sunday morning. IIRC Varsha lives in Atlanta, about an hour flight, Hobbo lives in Wisconsin, about 2 hrs in the air. Last I heard Matchett lives in Charlotte.

Let's take a normal European race. They'd have to get the Three Amigos and support staff to the race the Thurs morning before at least and get them back out Sunday evening. That means they are gone for five or six days a week for many races. Those guys will need to be compensated for that time. Charlotte is cheap to stay in and it wouldn't surprise me if Speed had some sort of corporate housing or at least a deal in a residence type hotel like a Courtyard or Residence Inn. So, they spend the cash and get them there, they are still going to call the race the same way they do now. From a broadcast facility (likely a trailer) at the track using the World Feed and T&S.

Buxton is doing a good job but I do miss Peter Windsor. I wish they would pay for a camera crew during Fri and Sat.

Part of the reason is Speed is on cable while FOX not. Also, FOX shows races in America, which naturally locates in better time frame than races on 6am in the morning...

Most that would be watching on Fox are doing so from a cable or sat system with local channels. The issue with Speed isn't that it's on cable per se, it's that it's on an upper tier option package that until the last few years wasn't available on every cable system. It's not uncommon to spend US$80-US$100 a month for a package that includes Speed. I agree that the time delay to the mid or late morning helps tremendously with the numbers. By the time I get up it's waiting for me an on the DVR where I watch the race and blast past the commercials.

Most that would be watching on Fox are doing so from a cable or sat system with local channels. The issue with Speed isn't that it's on cable per se, it's that it's on an upper tier option package that until the last few years wasn't available on every cable system. It's not uncommon to spend US$80-US$100 a month for a package that includes Speed. I agree that the time delay to the mid or late morning helps tremendously with the numbers. By the time I get up it's waiting for me an on the DVR where I watch the race and blast past the commercials.

I'm not sure about the option package stuff coz American cable companies have too many crazy options. I think Speedtv is included a cheaper cable package, (like $15 for 10 channels?) of Verizon Fios in East Coast. But since I moved to the West, I am stunned to know that the only way to watch Speedtv is to buy expensive on-demand options.

It will be interesting to see how the coverage changes and evolves as the network builds up to the USGP's return next year. I have no doubt there will be more and better in some ways, but that the things some established fans find annoying may also start showing up more and more.

Somehow I wasn't even thinking about this. I certainly hope it would bring increased coverage. We all know that the commentators are always keen to bring up the upcoming USGP.

Either way I'll be watching the USGP from the track. No way in hell am I missing it in 2012.

It about the money. They can fly the guys into Charlotte on Thurs night, get them back out Sunday morning. IIRC Varsha lives in Atlanta, about an hour flight, Hobbo lives in Wisconsin, about 2 hrs in the air. Last I heard Matchett lives in Charlotte.

Let's take a normal European race. They'd have to get the Three Amigos and support staff to the race the Thurs morning before at least and get them back out Sunday evening. That means they are gone for five or six days a week for many races. Those guys will need to be compensated for that time. Charlotte is cheap to stay in and it wouldn't surprise me if Speed had some sort of corporate housing or at least a deal in a residence type hotel like a Courtyard or Residence Inn. So, they spend the cash and get them there, they are still going to call the race the same way they do now. From a broadcast facility (likely a trailer) at the track using the World Feed and T&S.

Buxton is doing a good job but I do miss Peter Windsor. I wish they would pay for a camera crew during Fri and Sat.

Yeah, I understand why they do it.

Can you imagine being called in by your boss and told you are going to be the color commentator for Speed's F1 broadcast......but wait for it.....you don't get to go to any of the races and you have to do the broadcast from a studio in Sheboygan?

They did send them to Indianapolis though. I ran into Matchett downtown one race weekend. Getting sent to Indianapolis is sort of like the booby prize though...and I say that as a home town boy.

It will be interesting to see how the coverage changes and evolves as the network builds up to the USGP's return next year. I have no doubt there will be more and better in some ways, but that the things some established fans find annoying may also start showing up more and more.

Somehow I wasn't even thinking about this. I certainly hope it would bring increased coverage. We all know that the commentators are always keen to bring up the upcoming USGP.

Either way I'll be watching the USGP from the track. No way in hell am I missing it in 2012.

As they did with their broadcasts from Indy, Speed will provide extended coverage of all 3 practice sessions, qualifying and the race. All will be live and on-location.

I can tell you that 2 swiss networks have split screen commercials (well not precisely split down the middle, the race feed is maybe 1/4 the size and the commercial is much bigger. Same applies to at least 2 other european countries I 've watched F1 in and 1 country in the middle east. So either Varsha is making it up or Speed has a different deal (which sounds a bit ... far fetched to me, Bernie shouldn't really care what you do when you go to commercials)

I also miss Peter Windsor, he was the best member of the Speed Team and asked good questions and was sharp and had excellent f1 insight, I really enjoyed his grid walk and interviews.

I hope Peter Windsor gets over the USF1 fiasco and realizes that most US fans would be happy to have him back. I also think he had the respect of many of the drivers and people he interviewed and think that the paddock will eventually forgive and forget. I hope he at least comes to the first Austin Race as a spectator and fan.

Speaking of stupid delayed coverage on FOX, which races are on that format for this year? One needs to wake up some 20 mins earlier to find a decent stream in an understandable language and that doesn't lag all the freaking time.

I also miss Peter Windsor, he was the best member of the Speed Team and asked good questions and was sharp and had excellent f1 insight, I really enjoyed his grid walk and interviews.

I hope Peter Windsor gets over the USF1 fiasco and realizes that most US fans would be happy to have him back. I also think he had the respect of many of the drivers and people he interviewed and think that the paddock will eventually forgive and forget. I hope he at least comes to the first Austin Race as a spectator and fan.

Peter Windsor was terrible. I hope he never comes the the USA again. Considering the carnage and unpaid bills he left in his wake I wouldn't doubt if he skipped the Austin race.

He'd probably only do that if FOX agreed to take it off their SPEED channel and broadcast the entire schedule live on FOX (fta).

Won't happen. First, the NASCAR deal. Fox isn't going do anything for the part of the season Fox broadcasts. They'd have to air it at 8 or 9 am eastern and that's not too different than what they do now. F1 on Fox isn't a "must air". That means that local affiliates can chose to air it or not. In smaller markets they might make more from local programming or infomercials. The broadcast networks can own no more stations than can cover 39% of the total market. Those are usually in the big markets and even then there is no guarantee that it will air. The remainder of the stations are owned independently and do affiliate deals with the network. Most network TV stations are not owned by the network.

I find it funny that a couple blokes, halfway around the world with no first hand knowledge of the Speed contract are so quick to dismiss someone who is a key player in the deal. You guys haven't seen the contract and most likely have never seen Speed TV. The TV contracts are not the same. For example Monaco still provides the world feed for that race. Fuji in Japan provided the world feed until the contract ran out last season. The TV contracts are no more the same than the race contracts are the same.

Speaking of stupid delayed coverage on FOX, which races are on that format for this year? One needs to wake up some 20 mins earlier to find a decent stream in an understandable language and that doesn't lag all the freaking time.

The Canadian, European, British and German Grands Prix will be shown on Fox. Speed will do a re run at 12 noon eastern the following Tues.

1) Speed ducks the voice over way too much - when they're talking, you don't really hear any track sounds at all;
2) Buxton seems to be doing fine;
3) THE HUGE GRAPHICS ARE not WHY I AM watching THE PROGRAM!!!!

It's utterly moronic - show a graphic that effectively covers the bottom third of the screen during an in-car shot - what's left over? A blurry image of track. WTF?

While I agree that F1 on Speed can be annoying for all of the reasons listed above, I for one am thankful for their coverage. I have been a fan of F1 for years. Growing up overseas I had many options for coverage. My parents moved back to the States and all that was available was 10 minutes of highlights on Wide World of Sports.......if you were lucky.

While not perfect, I have been watching F1 on Speedchannel/Speed for the past 14 years and you know what? It's better than the alternative which is nothing.